4 ms·

Some of these criticisms come across as pretty entitled and spoiled. Lots of places never give out any gifts, or give you a shitty cheap watch or a plastic com

Some of these criticisms come across as pretty entitled and spoiled. Lots of places never give out any gifts, or give you a shitty cheap watch or a plastic company pen in recognition for 30 years of dedicated service. The socks complaint really bugs me. If I received a pair of socks from my boss, as long as they weren't tube socks, I'd actually like and use them! As long as you don't love in the tropics, it's hard to have too many socks. Company swag can be great when it's medium or high quality, or at least a bit exclusive. A few examples: * Medium- or high-end backpack, jacket, or other clothing embroidered with then coolest version of the company logo * Soft and comfy team- or project-specific designed t-shirt or hoodie * Branded shades or tennis shoes * Cash is always nice, too As long as the gift isn't offensively cheap or completely thoughtless, I wouldn't respond harshly or harbor any bad feelings. Any token of appreciation is likely better than none at all. Perhaps best to be considerate and ask around beforehand and allow people to opt out from the gift? This could help minimize the likelihood of negative responses and feels. p.s. Who remembers Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation? That was a quintessential example of an offensive company holiday gift; IIRC, without any warning, the cheap-ass boss swapped a long-standing cash bonus for a fruit club membership.

MandieD 4y ago
Jelly of the Month Club, instead of the bonus that he expected to cover much of the cost of his new swimming pool.
yakak 4y ago
Asking people if they want to opt out of all gifts could also backfire as a perceived loss. I.e. gift quality is higher than they expected, or perceived costs of this perk for others seem to be getting out of hand to them, while they feel committed to their initial choice of being someone who declined and is sort of against the whole thing. At larger companies, I noticed that you can do a give away with tables along the path to the cafeteria, etc, and really get away with giving out shwag of pretty much no value in a way that pleases quite a few either because they get excited by anything free or they get caught up in the moment, branding as a sort of collectible, etc.
- metadat 4y ago
  > ..could also backfire.. Yeah, agreed. After a moment of reflection I edited it down to opting out of a singular gift.
bombcar 4y ago
Yeah, lots of the stuff on the list isn't going to piss me off, it's just "meh" at worst. If they handed out $5 gift cards and people didn't want them you know I'd be going around and slurping them up.
- bawolff 4y ago
  This is the tech industry. Lots of people are paid enough that they would be paid more than $5 in the time it takes them to pick up the card.
  - wink 4y ago
    Don't think it has much to do with the tech industry. If it's a 5€ thing for a shop you have to get to first that might actually eat up the benefits already. (I'm in Europe, if I have to go to the city center I'd actually pay 6 € for both ways with public transport and probably 2-4 € in parking (+ gas)). So yeah, unless I'm taking the bike it would probably not make sense to go out of my way to even cash in a 10 € voucher if it's not online or something I frequent anyway. There are no malls here in a sense that I'd be stopping by on even a monthly basis.
oneoff786 4y ago
I saw this movie recently. There’s a scene where he just openly ogles at a woman’s breasts for a very long time in store as a gag. It’s pretty wild that when you look at one of his later character’s, Pierce Hawthorne in Community; an old inappropriate white guy, you still don’t see such behaviors played for gags to mock the inappropriateness of it in modern times to such an extent. The mockeries of that era are tamer than the reality even in light hearted comedy.
Aloha 4y ago
I remember on reddit someone was complaining about getting a Victorinox pocketknife for a five year anniversary gift, and it was a nice 30+ dollar knife, and people were complaining loudly about the insensitivity of it. I wondered aloud to my partner, would they be happier if they just got a certificate?
- bawolff 4y ago
  I would be weirded out by a pocketknife. What would i even do with it? I dont live in the woods.

MandieD 4y ago

Jelly of the Month Club, instead of the bonus that he expected to cover much of the cost of his new swimming pool.

yakak 4y ago

Asking people if they want to opt out of all gifts could also backfire as a perceived loss. I.e. gift quality is higher than they expected, or perceived costs of this perk for others seem to be getting out of hand to them, while they feel committed to their initial choice of being someone who declined and is sort of against the whole thing. At larger companies, I noticed that you can do a give away with tables along the path to the cafeteria, etc, and really get away with giving out shwag of pretty much no value in a way that pleases quite a few either because they get excited by anything free or they get caught up in the moment, branding as a sort of collectible, etc.

metadat 4y ago
> ..could also backfire.. Yeah, agreed. After a moment of reflection I edited it down to opting out of a singular gift.

bombcar 4y ago

Yeah, lots of the stuff on the list isn't going to piss me off, it's just "meh" at worst. If they handed out $5 gift cards and people didn't want them you know I'd be going around and slurping them up.

bawolff 4y ago
This is the tech industry. Lots of people are paid enough that they would be paid more than $5 in the time it takes them to pick up the card.
- wink 4y ago
  Don't think it has much to do with the tech industry. If it's a 5€ thing for a shop you have to get to first that might actually eat up the benefits already. (I'm in Europe, if I have to go to the city center I'd actually pay 6 € for both ways with public transport and probably 2-4 € in parking (+ gas)). So yeah, unless I'm taking the bike it would probably not make sense to go out of my way to even cash in a 10 € voucher if it's not online or something I frequent anyway. There are no malls here in a sense that I'd be stopping by on even a monthly basis.

oneoff786 4y ago

I saw this movie recently. There’s a scene where he just openly ogles at a woman’s breasts for a very long time in store as a gag. It’s pretty wild that when you look at one of his later character’s, Pierce Hawthorne in Community; an old inappropriate white guy, you still don’t see such behaviors played for gags to mock the inappropriateness of it in modern times to such an extent. The mockeries of that era are tamer than the reality even in light hearted comedy.

Aloha 4y ago

I remember on reddit someone was complaining about getting a Victorinox pocketknife for a five year anniversary gift, and it was a nice 30+ dollar knife, and people were complaining loudly about the insensitivity of it. I wondered aloud to my partner, would they be happier if they just got a certificate?

bawolff 4y ago
I would be weirded out by a pocketknife. What would i even do with it? I dont live in the woods.